It has been known to provide various forms of baffles in roofing structures to direct or channel air along the underside of the roof, usually from the soffit area of the roof upwardly toward vent ducts or a crest or ridge vent. Such baffle vents often are called "vent chutes". The baffle vents provide barriers to separate the interior surface of the roof from the attic area and from such extraneous materials as insulation which might be located near the underside of the roof. The baffles direct the air against the surface of the roof, eliminate the build-up of moisture and prevent ice formations during winter months.
A major consideration in the design and manufacture of such baffle vents has been in the cost of such structures. Taking into consideration the large square footage of the roofs of buildings, such as residential homes, it has been a goal to design baffle vents so that they do not add appreciably to the cost of construction. Consequently, heretofore, baffle vents have been fabricated extensively of foam material in sheets and formed to be self-supporting so that the vents can be handled and manipulated into position for attachment against the interior surface of a roof.
Heretofore, such baffle vents conventionally have been narrow elongated structures so that they fit between the rafters of a roof structure. When the use of foam materials was initiated in fabricating such baffle vents, the structures originally were relatively thick and of a simple channel configuration in cross-section so as to be self-supporting. Such thick structures were relatively expensive and added appreciably to the cost of construction. U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,612 to Robbins, dated Aug. 30, 1994, discloses a baffle vent structure of a thinner foam sheet material and includes an improved reinforced structure to prevent the vents from collapsing during shipping, handling and installation, as well as to prevent collapsing of the vents from compacted insulation which often is blown into attic areas of a building against the underside of the baffle vents.
Baffle vent structures of the character described above, such as the vent shown in the aforesaid patent, all are designed for positioning between the rafters of a roof. The vents have attaching flanges running along the length of the baffle vent at the side edges thereof for attaching the vents to the underside or interior surface of the roof between the rafters. Consequently, accommodations had to be made for rafters of different spacing. In addition, unfortunately, such baffle vent structures are not appropriate for use in contemporaneous construction of "manufactured housing".
More particularly, in manufactured housing, the ceiling/roof structure is assembled or manufactured "inside-out". In other words, drywall sheeting first is applied to the bottom edges of the rafters to form the inside ceiling of the housing. Insulation then is installed between the rafters on top of the drywall. The roof sheeting (e.g. plywood panels) then is attached to the top edges of the rafters and, lastly, the exterior roofing (e.g. shingles) are applied to the top of the sheeting. It readily can be understood that baffle vent structures heretofore known, i.e. structures designed for attaching to the interior surface of the roof sheeting, cannot be used when the ceiling/roof structure is manufactured inside-out as described above.
The present invention is directed to improvements in baffle vent structures wherein the vents are designed for installation on top of the roof rafters before attaching the roof sheeting. The improved baffle vent structure provides versatility for roof structures of varying rafter spacing, and the vents are rigidified to afford fabrication with a thin foam sheet material.